This was a far cry from my usual pattern of seeking out new eats. First off, this mission required an extended drive way out to the community of Port Moody – a quaint little place with an older downtown core near the water but also has some beautiful natural surroundings up in the nearby mountains. Second, this was a deliberate foodosophy trip focused solely on sweets, with no regular food component as part of the meal.

So what led me to what is self-dubbed as the “City of the Arts”? A Japanese-specialty dessert shop known as Cake-ya.

Located in an older building next door to a funky used bookstore and down the same path as a soup/sandwich joint, Cake-ya began as a place that made and sold Japanese pudding, otherwise known as Purin. To describe it simply, I would say it is a smooth, silky custard (with the usual key ingredients such as butter, milk, sugar, eggs, etc.) with a sweet caramel syrupy sauce at the base. I’ve traditionally enjoyed it as a simple after meal sweet treat, or on its own while drinking a contrasting bitter green tea.

Short and sweet. Seems that whenever I review a dessert place, it ends up this way. I suppose its fitting, given that just a little piece of cake, cookie, pie, etc. ends up being more than I really need to be consuming. Yes, yours truly is becoming more and more conscious of his weight…

A hybrid between a dessert café, pâtisserie, and a kitchen supply shop, the T Room makes the best use of its quaint space to provide an experience that can cater to all sorts of people interested in many aspects of baking. With a keen sense of always adapting to the times and season, in addition to the baked goods and sweets, menu items such as soups, salads and sandwiches are available. For this commentary, I will only be talking about the takeaway bakery component of this business.

On my most recent visit, I picked up a whole cake for a friendly gathering. Pictured above is a Strawberry Cheesecake. For those who’ve read some other dessert reviews from Vancouver, such as here and here will know that I enjoy my cheesecakes. This version at T Room was unlike the others in that it had a much softer consistency. Not quite as loose as say jelly, but slicing into it you could immediately notice how delicate it was and it was difficult to cut it into nice and neat slices.

This didn’t bother me as frankly when cheesecakes are as solid as a brick, they tend to be very rich and its not long before I tire of eating even half of a decent sized slice. The nutty rim added an additional textural crunch while the smooth top layer with the unmistakeable scent of strawberry, but not so overpowering that it commanded the full attention of the taste profile, was well done. Not incredibly sugary sweet, it was very easy to eat a single slice, and then some. Others who had a piece commented on this as well, so I was not alone. The only downside is that this is doing nothing to aid in my attempt to control my calorie intake.

I’ll do my best to do a follow up piece on the dine-in café section, and share my thoughts on the soup/sandwich offerings, as some did catch my eye on my last scan of the menu board…

In my mind, cupcakes and childhood birthday parties are synonymous. Fast forward a few years and I was introduced to “gourmet” cupcakes at a wedding. Rather than having a traditional wedding cake, the bride and groom had a tower of cupcakes. Fast forward a few more years, I was walking down West Broadway one Saturday afternoon and I came across a cute little shop selling what else… Cupcakes of course! The décor of Original Cupcakes is something you’d expect to find in a little girls dollhouse. I was impressed with the look of the pink hued store, complete with cupcake shaped light fixtures. From the bustle in the open bakery in the back and the sweet smell in the air, I thought it’d be a shame to leave without some cupcake bounty.

I’m not the type that indulges in baked sweets very often, but for some reason cupcakes are an exception. Wanting to try more than a single sweet something, I decided on a half dozen mini cupcakes. This being my first time in the store I thought these were perfect! The cake portion was moist and had just the right amount of sweetness. The frosting also wasn’t overly sweet and each had their distinct flavor profiles. If I were to pick my favorite of the bunch, it would have to be the “mint condition”. To get a feel for their cupcake lineup, they’ve got them all listed on their website.

Funny how things happen and later that week I was at a local grocery store and overheard a conversation about the Cupcake store on W Broadway. The cashier informed the customer ahead of me that Original Cupcakes also makes great cakes. Making a mental note, a cake will definitely be on my list for a future gathering and I’ll more than likely end up indulging in a couple of cupcakes, maybe even a big one next time.

As a final note, I’ve just learned that every month they have a “cause cupcake” where a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each cupcake goes to the cause of the month. You should check out the story behind January’s “bizzy lizzy” on their blog.